Film & TV
November 19, 2021
Season Two of ‘Love Life’ Has Nothing New to Say
Dallas native William Jackson Harper is a romantic lead who's prone to repeating mistakes and slow to mature.
Film & TV
Incisive criticism, features, and news related to Texans on the screen—and behind the camera
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Books
November 19, 2021
How the Alamo Drafthouse Turned Trash Cinema into a Cultural Institution
A new book tells the sweeping tale of the Alamo’s Weird Wednesday series, the American Genre Film Archive, and Austin’s custodians of cult.
Film & TV
November 19, 2021
Mckenna Grace Is the Only Thing Alive About the New ‘Ghostbusters’
The rising Grapevine star brings fresh spirit to a movie that’s fatally preoccupied with reviving the dead.
Libations
November 19, 2021
Escape to the Tropics at Austin’s Tiki Tatsu-Ya
Indulge in over-the-top cocktails like the Skeleton Cruise, which comes in a boat with dry ice and activates bar-wide light and sound effects.
Film & TV
November 16, 2021
The Legendary Flop of ‘The Legend of the Lone Ranger’
How an Amarillo oilman stole the mask right off the Lone Ranger’s face, and made one of film’s most infamous failures in the process.
Film & TV
November 11, 2021
How the Pandemic Showed Me a Different Way to Watch Movies
Over one hundred movies later, a virtual movie club learned some surprising things about classic movies—and about friendship in dark times.
Film & TV
November 3, 2021
‘The Harder They Fall’ Is a Fun, Stylish Revisionist Western
Dallas-raised actor Jonathan Majors leads a star-studded cast as outlaw Nat Love seeking revenge.
Film & TV
October 29, 2021
Richard Linklater’s ‘Waking Life’ Is Still a Long, Weird Trip Worth Taking
He made the low-budget film at a low point in his career—but twenty years later, it stands the test of time.
Film & TV
October 28, 2021
‘Student Bodies’ Remains Texas’s Strangest Contribution to Horror Movie History
The 1981 slasher spoof prominently features Houston and a future Texas politician, but that’s not all that’s notable about it.
Film & TV
October 21, 2021
‘The French Dispatch’ Is Wes Anderson at His Most Self-indulgent
The Houston filmmaker’s latest is a valentine to defiantly idiosyncratic storytellers like Wes Anderson.
Film & TV
October 15, 2021
‘Halloween Kills’ Time and Patience
The sequel to David Gordon Green’s franchise reboot is all filler, same old killer.
Film & TV
October 12, 2021
‘Hard Luck Love Song’ Is A Tune You’ve Heard Before, But It Hits All the Right Notes
Austin-raised writer-director Justin Corsbie’s debut about a down-on-his-luck troubadour feels as warmly familiar as the Americana songs that inspired it.
Film & TV
October 7, 2021
Apple’s ‘Foundation’ Is Dull, but Lee Pace Is Our Intergalactic Emperor Daddy
The Houston-raised actor shines as a pompous space tyrant in the otherwise dreary Isaac Asimov adaptation.
Film & TV
October 6, 2021
Fifty Years On, ‘The Last Picture Show’ Is an Indelible Texas Movie
There may be no more powerful film about growing up with nowhere to go.
Business
October 5, 2021
At Heritage, Pokémon Cards Are the New Bitcoin
The collectors are younger, the payouts are bigger, the collectibles are … nerdier. Dallas-based Heritage Auctions has entered a wild new era.
Film & TV
September 30, 2021
‘Venom 2’: Let There Be Confusion
Woody Harrelson’s talents are buried under the film’s unwieldy plot.
Film & TV
September 28, 2021
NBC’s ‘La Brea’ Is Silly, but It Gives Natalie Zea an Overdue Spotlight
The Monahans-bred actor elevates this loopy, Lost-like sci-fi drama about a mom fighting her way out of a mysterious primeval world.
Film & TV
September 24, 2021
Dale Brisby’s Netflix Show Teaches Viewers How to Be Cowboys for the Instagram Age
The rancher and self-proclaimed rodeo legend has an ego the size of Texas, and he uses it for the good of the “cowboy cause.”
Film & TV
September 20, 2021
David Lowery Has a New Film About the Pandemic Already
The Dallas-based director's short is inscrutable, arty, and part of the excellent anthology ‘The Year of the Everlasting Storm.’
Music
September 16, 2021
‘The Nowhere Inn’ Delves Into St. Vincent but Leaves Plenty of Vacancies
Dallas’s mercurial pop phenom writes and stars in this loosely autobiographical satire that raises questions it doesn’t deign to answer.
Film & TV
September 14, 2021
‘Necessary Roughness’ Made Texas Football Into a Joke. But It Also Moved the Chains.
Kick off the football season with this underappreciated, Denton-filmed comedy, which captured some truths about Texas football that later, more-serious movies would expand on.
Film & TV
September 1, 2021
Was ‘Star Trek’ Creator Gene Roddenberry Really a Texan?
Roddenberry may have eschewed identifying with the state, but the stories he told carry a Texan DNA.
Film & TV
September 1, 2021
Your Comprehensive Fall 2021 Texas Film Guide
Cowboys, ghostbusters, and aliens, oh my! The autumn months are abloom with Texas actors, filmmakers, and locales on the big (and small) screen.
Film & TV
August 23, 2021
‘Only Murders in the Building’ Sends Up Our True-Crime Obsession
Helmed by Selena Gomez, Steve Martin, and Martin Short, the show parodies and subverts the tropes of the true-crime genre.
Film & TV
August 21, 2021
Dennis Quaid Is the True King of the Sports Movie
Forget Kevin Costner. The Houston native best captures the complex glory of American sports.
Film & TV
August 11, 2021
A User’s Guide to Austin’s New B-List Celebrities
Is that a Hollywood newcomer or just someone who works out a lot? How to tell the difference.
Texas History
August 6, 2021
In Memoriam: On MTV’s Fortieth Anniversary, Don’t Forget to Thank Michael Nesmith
The Texas native helped make the music video into an art form, and was instrumental in creating the network that defined a generation.
Film & TV
August 6, 2021
How Alvin Ailey Built a World Where Black Dancers Felt Free
A new documentary about the dance visionary from Rogers shows how he nurtured fellow artists—even while pushing them (and himself) relentlessly.
Film & TV
August 5, 2021
‘Playing God’ Captures a Houston Rarely Seen on Screen
The debut feature from Scott Brignac, starring Alan Tudyk and Michael McKean, argues for Houston's place among film’s default “big cities."
Film & TV
August 4, 2021
A New Documentary Pens a Poignant Love Letter to Numbers, a Storied Houston Haunt
‘Friday I’m in Love’ delves into the fascinating history of the former dinner theater, gay disco, and frequent dance party locale.
Film & TV
August 3, 2021
David Gordon Green Is Rebooting ‘The Exorcist.’ But Has He Really Lost His Soul to Hollywood?
The Richardson-raised filmmaker has traded arthouse dramas for horror remakes, but that’s always been part of the plan.
Film & TV
July 30, 2021
Dev Patel’s Sexy New Christmas Movie Is a Gorgeously Knotty Myth About Going to Meet Death
Dallas-based director David Lowery’s ‘The Green Knight’ goes medieval on a hoary romance of King Arthur and Camelot.
Film & TV
July 29, 2021
Austin’s Lukas Haas Brings Menace to the Otherwise-Dismal ‘Midnight in the Switchgrass’
Megan Fox and Bruce Willis star in the thriller, which is very loosely based on an infamous Texas serial killer.
Where to Stay Now
July 23, 2021
Time-Travel to 1920s El Paso at the Gardner Hotel
Plus: guitarist Cameron Knowler’s new album, Connie Britton in ‘The White Lotus,’ and a good ol’ country drive.
Film & TV
July 22, 2021
Raúl Castillo Is Ready for His Big Break
The McAllen-bred actor and writer, 43, was a fan favorite on HBO’s ‘Looking.’ Now he’s poised to become an action star.
Film & TV
July 20, 2021
Thirty Years After ‘Slacker,’ the Film Is an Austin Time Capsule—And a Hopeful Tribute to Its Spirit
Richard Linklater’s film belongs in the canon of great Texas cinema.
Film & TV
July 15, 2021
‘Dr. Death’ Condemns Christopher Duntsch, but the Real Culprit Is Texas’s Broken Health-Care System
I helped break the story on the convicted surgeon, but Peacock’s dramatized series made me reconsider how I wrote about the case.
Film & TV
July 14, 2021
Everything We Know So Far About Wes Anderson’s ‘The French Dispatch’
At Cannes, the Houston native’s latest inspired a nine-minute standing ovation and equally fawning reviews.
Film & TV
July 13, 2021
Nava Mau Shines (and Subverts Transgender Stereotypes) on HBO’s ‘Genera+ion’
“When stories about trans people are created by trans people, it opens up a world of possibilities,” says the San Antonio–raised actress.
Film & TV
July 3, 2021
‘The Harder They Fall’ Is About to Bring New Excitement to the Old-school Western
Starring North Texas's Jonathan Majors and featuring folk hero Bass Reeves, the film promises to let Black cowboys have fun for once.
Film & TV
July 2, 2021
Texas Executed Carlos DeLuna for Murder in 1989. A New Documentary Says He Was Innocent.
The Phantom stylishly portrays what most everybody knows: the 27-year-old Texan didn’t kill Wanda Lopez.
Film & TV
July 2, 2021
It’s Too Soon for ‘The Forever Purge’
The horror franchise attempts to skewer Trumpism, but the result makes for uncomfortable viewing.
Film & TV
June 28, 2021
Is the World Finally Ready to See Selena Gomez as an Actor?
As the Grand Prairie native readies Hulu’s ‘Only Murders in the Building,’ her acting career seems primed for rebirth.
Film & TV
June 25, 2021
A Scintillating but Uneven New Documentary Probes the Life of Trini Lopez, a Legend in Plain Sight
The Dallas native was a live-wire entertainer who never shied away from his Mexican American roots.
Film & TV
June 24, 2021
The Year Woody Harrelson Finally Became a Movie Star
Early in his career, Woody Harrelson couldn’t shake his reputation as the country rube from ‘Cheers.’ Here’s how that changed, starting 25 years ago.
Books
June 22, 2021
Texas Monthly Recommends: An Engrossing East Texas Novel
Stacey Swann's ‘Olympus, Texas’ is the read of the summer. Plus: a so-bad-it's-good reality show and Megan Thee Stallion on ‘Legendary.’
Film & TV
June 22, 2021
Hollywood Honors Texas’s Biggest Movie Star: The Chevy Suburban
The SUV will get a star in Arlington commemorating its thousands of movie and TV appearances.
Film & TV
June 16, 2021
Unsung Music Legend Tom Wilson Is Finally Getting His Own Movie
The Waco-born producer, instrumental to the careers of Bob Dylan, The Velvet Underground, and Frank Zappa, is the subject of an upcoming biopic.
Film & TV
June 16, 2021
Renée Elise Goldsberry Talks ‘Girls5eva,’ ‘Hamilton,’ and Her Renaissance-Woman Career
The Houston-raised actress has conquered Broadway and television. Now she’s about to smash music—and Marvel’s ‘She-Hulk’ series.
Film & TV
June 14, 2021
Donny Cates’s ‘God Country’ Movie Will Bring Superheroes to Texas
The Austin-based artist is adapting his West Texas–set tale for the screen.